Your Right to Know

WASHINGTON — Congress ran full-tilt into election-year gridlock over immigration yesterday and
staggered toward a five-week summer break after failing to agree on legislation to cope with the
influx of young immigrants flocking illegally to the United States.

Faring far better, a bipartisan $16 billion measure to clean up after a scandal at the
Department of Veterans Affairs was sent to President Barack

Obama for his signature on a Senate vote of 91-3. The House approved the measure on a vote of
420-5 on Wednesday.

But three months before midterm elections, the dispute over immigration exposed not only
enduring disputes between the parties, but also differences within the ranks of House Republicans
and among Senate Democrats.

And a new outburst of harsh, partisan rhetoric between leading officials in both parties served
as another reminder that after 18 months in office, Congress has little to show for its efforts
apart from abysmally low public approval ratings.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-West Chester, accused Democrats of pursuing a “nutso scheme” of
trying to seize on the border crisis to try to grant a path to citizenship to millions of
immigrants living in the country illegally.

Countering, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said blame for failing to fix problems at the
border rests with Republicans. He said they have refused to provide “the necessary resources to
deal with what they themselves describe as a serious problem.”

It was Republican unity that cracked first during the day.

A few hours after Boehner spoke, Republicans canceled a vote on their border-security
legislation, a $659 million measure that also would make it easier to deport the children from
Central America who are flooding into the United States. The GOP did so after a revolt by tea
party-aligned lawmakers, some of whom had conferred with Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas the night
before.

They argued that the leadership’s offer of a vote on a companion bill, even if it were approved,
would fall short of reversing a 2012 administration policy under which 500,000 immigrants living in
the country illegally have obtained work permits.

A short while later, a $2.7 billion Democratic alternative to ease the crisis at the border
perished in the Senate, blocked by Republicans and two Democrats seeking the right to pursue
changes.

So chaotic was the day that after initially announcing that the House had taken its last vote,
Republicans abruptly reversed course and announced a plan to reconvene today for a possible vote on
legislation related to border security and immigration — details yet to be determined.

Whatever the eventual outcome in the House, there was no talk of compromise with the Senate
before lawmakers’ departure from Washington — last night for the Senate and today for the
House.

The veterans bill was a response to reports that some veterans were subjected to long delays in
care while agency officials covered that up.

Most of the money will be used to let veterans seek care from outside physicians. The
legislation also would allow the hiring of additional physicians for the VA and permit the firing
of senior executives guilty of poor performance.